How ironic would it be if a horse named ‘Emotional Damage’ actually caused physical damage to its owner, whether intentional or not? That is what exactly happened to Irish jockey Jody McGarvey recently at the Naas racecourse in Ireland. It was a moment of unbearable pain for the 33-year-old. The sound of his wailing traveled loud and far.

The race was just about to start and McGarvey was just about to ride her beloved ‘Emotional Damage’. But in a sudden turn of events, the 5-year-old mare kicked her rider in agitation. Although he was in tremendous pain, McGarvey was still lucky to escape a severe injury. Here’s what happened.

Irish audience at the equestrian event wasn’t expecting this horrific instance

In a tweet by Kevin Blake, a horse racing pundit, he shared the clip of the exact moment ‘Emotional Damage’ landed the kick on McGarvey. It was a back kick. And McGarvey immediately held on to his calf in pain. The tweet read, “A horse called Emotional Damage tried to do some physical damage to @jody_mcgarvey before her run at Naas earlier today. Jody was ok and with no hard feelings, they partnered up to finish ninth in the race. #hardy”. The humor wasn’t lost on McGarvey himself, who retweeted Blake’s video and wrote, “Got a little kick in the a**e today”.

Jody McGarvey’s scream in agony shook the entire crowd who were present there to witness the equestrian event. Gordon Elliott, the famous National Hunt racehorse trainer, trained ‘Emotional Damage’. Usually not known to exhibit such violent behavior, it was a rare instance for the young mare.

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Something spooked her the moment McGarvey started mounting on her at the parade ring. After the pain and the scream at the moment, he managed to clutch onto his leg and somehow limped away off the track.

The kick could have been deadlier

In that moment of grim air, as he walked off the track for a bit, McGarvey’s chances of participation at the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle, were in serious doubt. Unlike Jonathan Millar, who suffered a horrific injury during an equestrian event, McGarvey was lucky to have suffered a minor injury and was soon back to ride the same horse. Unfortunately, it didn’t end well for him at the race as he ended up in 9th position.

It is good to see McGarvey later on finding humor in his grim situation. However, this very well could’ve turned into an extremely damaging and permanently jarring experience for McGarvey. Thankfully, he got off easy.

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